An Atlanta Public Schools bus driver was placed on leave after an unauthorized passenger was discovered sleeping on  the school bus while it was transporting Howard Middle School students, reported WSB News.

The unidentified woman, who was reportedly homeless, apparently remained undetected throughout the Monday morning route and was discovered only after the bus arrived at the school, according to a student who was on board. It remains unclear when or how the woman entered the bus.

According to the news report, a seventh-grade student recorded videos of the incident and sent them to her mother. The footage shows the driver discovering the woman asleep in the back of the bus and directing her to leave.

“Oh Lord Jesus,” the driver reportedly said in the video. “Come on, let’s go, ma’am.”

The woman exited the bus without incident. No injuries were reported.

Beth, whose last name was not provided, the mother of the student who recorded the videos, said her daughter rides the bus daily.

“It’s just crazy to me that she was undetected,” she told local news reporters. “It’s very unnerving, and it’s just unsettling.”

Although the incident ended without anyone being harmed, Beth said the circumstances raised concerns about whether the bus had been adequately inspected before students boarded.

“I’m relieved at how it turned out and that everything was fine, but it could’ve been something completely different,” she said via the article. “The kids need to feel safe; they need to know that when they get on that bus, they’re going to be protected; they’re going to be safe until they get to school.”

Atlanta Public Schools confirmed via the article that an unauthorized passenger was found on a bus transporting students to Howard Middle School. The district said the person was removed without incident, and that officials are reviewing the circumstances. Under district protocol, the driver was placed on leave pending the outcome of the review.

APS reportedly added that it is taking immediate steps to address any identified concerns and make necessary changes to its transportation and safety protocols. “The safety and security of our students and staff is our highest priority,” the district stated. “APS takes all matters involving student safety and security seriously and remains committed to maintaining safe and secure transportation for every student.”

Written with the ssistance of AI.

Related: School Buses Repurposed as Hygiene Stations for Homeless
Related: States Receive $600M to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness
Related: Roundup: Bus Driver Caught Texting, Service Animal Challenges, Parents Object to Busing Homeless
Related: What the Latest Federal Research On Homeless Students Means

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Every day, your team sees things about student attendance, enrollment, and access that no one else in the district does. The challenge isn’t what your team knows — it’s that many districts don’t yet understand how central transportation is to their most pressing priorities: chronic absenteeism, enrollment decline, and service for the students who need the most reliable support.

Data from the 2026 State of School Transportation Report confirms that transportation plays a direct role in whether students show up, which school families choose, and if and how students experiencing homelessness or students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) get the transportation access the law requires. But most districts are still treating transportation as a logistics line item instead of a strategic asset.

In this webinar, we will explore key findings from the report including what the data shows, why it matters far beyond the transportation department, and how to make the case for transportation having a seat at the table for high-level district conversations.

What you’ll take away:

• New data on transportation-related absences: More than half of families surveyed say their child missed school at least once in the past year because of transportation — and most attendance systems aren’t flagging transportation as the cause.
• Evidence linking transportation to school choice and enrollment: What parents across the country told us about how transportation availability influences school choice, and what it means for districts trying to reverse enrollment decline.
• A clear picture of the McKinney-Vento response gap: What it’s costing vulnerable students when districts can’t meet the “without delay” standard for transportation for students experiencing homelessness
• A concrete first step for using transportation to impact attendance: Data shows that 75% of district administrators believe transportation affects attendance, but only 25% are formally tracking the relationship.
• Proof that transportation belongs at the leadership table: How to bring your data into district conversations on absenteeism, enrollment, and equity.

Brought to you by HopSkipDrive

REGISTER BELOW:

Presenters:

Angelo Grau
Transportation Supervisor
Mesquite ISD

President
North Texas Association of Pupil Transportation

Dustin Kress
General Manager
RouteWise AI

Former Chief of Staff for Operations
Denver Public Schools

Adam Gleicher
Director of Marketing
HopSkipDrive

The post (Free Webinar) Transportation: The Missing Link for Attendance, Enrollment, and Equity appeared first on School Transportation News.

Alternative transportation isn’t only for students with special needs or housing instability. As school transportation becomes less about taking students to the nearest school at the same time each day, the ability to pivot and to cost-effectively move small numbers of students becomes important. This makes communication and collaboration vital like with traditional school bus transportation.

For example, students are often traveling to magnet schools or specialized schools across the district, regardless of where they live, making it potentially inefficient for a regular yellow bus to zigzag across town.

Students might have specialized programs, meaning they are at school during odd hours. And the shortage of bus drivers can make running a full fleet of traditional buses nearly impossible.

“If the district is only relying on buses, there are cases where there will be really low ridership,” said HopSkipDrive spokesperson Campbell Millum. “You might have a 50-passenger bus, with only six students on it. If you were to take those six kids and put them in small vehicles, you can free up that whole bus with the CDL driver.”

Meanwhile, an STN and EverDriven survey conducted earlier this year underscored how alternative transportation can help districts manage costs, including through more efficient routing.

EverDriven provides consulting services specifically to help districts maximize their routing, including by integrating alternative transportation. EverDriven’s Consolidated Routing Services “pairs advanced route intelligence with deep human expertise to cut costs, reduce ride times and deliver measurable outcomes,” the company said, with participating districts seeing a 15 percent average cost reduction in routing.

“Districts are adjusting routes, consolidating services and exploring alternative transportation models to help serve students whose needs are difficult to support through traditional fixed-route systems alone,” added EverDriven Chief Marketing Officer Courtney Pallotta. “We are seeing districts become more strategic about using the right transportation mode for the right student need, particularly for students requiring specialized transportation.”

From the July magazine: Same Goals, Different Vehicles

Communication and Collaboration in Alternative Transportation
Seamless communication between districts, providers and other stakeholders is crucial, especially given the vulnerabilities of the students being transported.

“What we try to do is communicate as much as possible,” said Philadelphia’s Executive Director of Transportation Thomas Marcucci. “If we know it will be someone different [driving], the vendor will ask them to make sure to reach out to parents or guardians.”
The district is in the process of adopting new routing software that will allow parents to track their kids on alternative transportation. Marcucci sees it all as part of making sure students can get the most out of school.

“We don’t want a student to [start] their day off in a negative way because of transportation,” he said.

EverDriven uses a data portal where districts can “submit and manage ride requests, track onboarding progress, monitor daily trips, view arrivals and no-shows, manage permissions, and run reports tied to compliance and planning,” Pallotta said. “That visibility is important because alternative student transportation should be modern, transparent and available on demand. It needs to complement the district’s existing fleet. The portal helps transportation directors, student services teams, school administrators, and security staff stay aligned and reduce paperwork. It also minimizes miscommunication around student needs, accommodations, routes, and schedule changes.”

Related: From Taxis to Trusted Rides: Alternative Transportation Benefits Illinois Students
Related: Districts Use Alternative Transportation to Support Mckinney-Vento Students
Related: As School Bus Production Spikes, So Do Alternative Vehicles?
Related: NASDPTS Publishes Paper Espousing Safety of School Buses Over Alternative Transportation

Gregg Prettyman, VP of FirstAlt, noted the risks inherent when communication lapses. Once a district did not let the company know that a certain student could not tolerate any phone noise. “A driver’s phone just lit up, and the student got kind of violent,” he recalled.

Communication and collaboration are especially important in serving unhoused students who fall under the McKinney-Vento Act, since students are often bouncing between multiple school districts.

“They might be at a grandparent’s house inside their home district, and next week they might be living at an aunt and uncle’s house outside of their home district,” said Prettyman. “Maybe you pick them up at a shelter in the morning, drop them at the uncle’s house in the afternoon, and then a hotel the next week. So, you need a transportation solution that can be very nimble and adaptable. Sometimes, their home district may also have an arrangement with the district where they are living, to pay for the morning trip, while the district where they currently live, pays for the afternoon trip. In these cases, you also need a billing system just as adaptable as your transportation system.”

Philadelphia has several staffers in the routing department devoted specifically to these students. In all, Philadelphia provides alternative transportation to 3,830 students, and about 20,000 students ride school buses. “It’s better to overcommunicate than under-communicate,” said Marcucci. “It’s our vendor, our district, surrounding counties working together collaboratively.”

Read more about alternative transportation in the July issue of School Transportation News.

The post Alternative Transportation Operations Also Rely on Efficiency, Communication and Collaboration appeared first on School Transportation News.